Compostable Dish Cloths from The Happy Sparrow

7th November 2022

posted in Natural Home & Eco Friendly

Adding compostable dish cloths to our range was a no brainer. When we sit down to do the product development for our own brand, The Happy Sparrow, we take a look at the same criteria we use for our whole store, but with an extra twist. We like to fill little gaps in the market where we have customers ask us a specific question and we don't have quite the right product to suit their needs.

When it came to our natural and eco friendly cleaning products range, let's be honest, most people don't like cleaning. We figured if you're going to have a dish cloth in your hands and dirty dishes in the sink, you may as well have a bit of a chuckle while you're doing it.

What are our compostable dish cloths made from?

The cloths are made from 100% natural materials that will compost or biodegrade when you're done with them. There's no packaging, so they come to you naked and ready to use with zero waste.

70% plant cellulose
30% cotton

Mainstream cloths can be made from rayon, plastic and other man made fibres that need to go in to landfill when you're finished with them, and they rarely last the 6 months you'll get from one of these.

Pair your compostable dish cloth with liquid castile soap for the most natural and versatile cleaning product in store.

The Happy Sparrow Music Pun Compostable Dish Cloths

Song Title Puns

We had such fun creating these. Starting with a list of around 30 songs, we narrowed our first production run down to 12 popular songs and swapped out one of the words for a cleaning word instead.

Am I ever gonna clean this mess again? No Way! Get Wiped! Wipe Off!
Another one fights the dust
Baby I'm just gonna clean clean clean clean clean, clean it off, clean it off
Everybody wants to clean the world
I just called to say I cleaned you
I should be so sparkly
I wanna clean with somebody, with somebody who loves me
Never gonna clean you up
We will we will wipe you
Wipe me up before you go go
You give dirt a bad name
You make me feel, you make me feel, you make me feel like a natural dish cloth

They are available to purchase as singles, on sale in a pack of 12 and available for wholesale purchase for retail stores and food co-ops.

How long do our compostable dish cloths last for?

With regular use and washing, your cloth should last around 6 months before it starts naturally breaking down. Once you see it breaking down, you can dispose of it in the following ways:-
Bury it in the garden
Put it on your compost
Put it in a bokashi bin
Add it to your worm farm

A special cloth by illustrator Tumi K Steyn

This is the cloth that inspired our full range. This artwork was created as a gift to my mother, Moya Swadling, who was in hospital from January to June 2021 until she passed away. South African illustrator and artist Tumi K Steyn is the daughter of one of my mothers friends, and this artwork was emailed to us to print out and place in my mothers room in lieu of real flowers. After mum's passing, Tumi gave us permission to print the original artwork on a cleaning cloth, a medium she had never used before. The quality of the printing is spectactular and we'll be commissioning more work from Tumi K Steyn later in 2023. Tumi has a successful career doing the illustrations for many children's books and sells her work on Redbubble.

How do I clean my compostable dish cloths?

The best way to clean them is to put them in your washing machine with the laundry. If you own a dishwasher, you can put them on the top rack of the dishwasher or simply wash them by hand. Allow to dry in between uses.

Lee Corbett Artist - compostable dish cloths

Our cartoon series by local graphic artist Lee Corbett

Newcastle graphic artist Lee Corbett worked with my crazy mind to bring these 4 ideas to life for us to print on our cloths. Lee is the the daughter of a friend of mine and has assisted her mother on several of our photo shoots. You'll see her hands in quite a few photos and she modelled for a few shots too, including allowing us to photograph her with knotted hair many years ago. She's studying a Bachelor of Visual Communication Design at university and started her first creative merchandise business NOTFOREATING at the age of 17.